Simultaneous mesh and access point operation modes of a radio

ABSTRACT

Technologies directed to allow a wireless network device with a single wireless local area network (WLAN) radio to act as a mesh station (Mesh STA) and also an access point (AP) are described. A processor sends data in a specified mode, via a radio, to identify itself as a mesh station in the mesh network and an AP in an access network. The processor receives a first frame via the radio and determines that the first frame is directed to the mesh station and receives a second frame via the radio and determines that the second frame is directed to the AP. The processor processes the first frame as a mesh frame using first processing logic and processes the second frame as an AP frame using second processing logic.

BACKGROUND

A large and growing population of users is enjoying entertainmentthrough the consumption of digital media items, such as music, movies,images, electronic books, and so on. The users employ various electronicdevices to consume such media items. Among these electronic devices(referred to herein as user devices or user equipment) are electronicbook readers, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs),portable media players, tablet computers, netbooks, laptops, and thelike. These electronic devices wirelessly communicate with acommunications infrastructure to enable the consumption of the digitalmedia items. In order to wirelessly communicate with other devices,these electronic devices include one or more antennas.

A wireless mesh network may support establishing point-to-point wirelesslinks between the participating communication devices. A network devicemay utilize the wireless mesh network for accessing digital contentstored on one or more digital content servers within or outside of themesh network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present inventions will be understood more fully from the detaileddescription given below and from the accompanying drawings of variousembodiments of the present invention, which, however, should not betaken to limit the present invention to the specific embodiments, butare for explanation and understanding only.

FIG. 1 is a network diagram of a wireless network having multiplewireless network devices each configured to operate as a mesh station ina wireless mesh network and multiple wireless network devices eachconfigured to operate as a Mesh-Access Point (Mesh-AP) station in boththe wireless mesh network and an access network according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a dual-mode frame processing logic of awireless network device operating as both a mesh station and an APaccording to one embodiment.

FIGS. 3A-3B are examples of a first beacon frame with a service setidentifier (SSID) of the access network and a second beacon frame with amesh identifier transmitted by the wireless network device in a secondmode, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 4A is an example of an AP frame with a frame control fieldaccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 4B is an example of a mesh frame with a frame control fieldaccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 a flow diagram of a method of processing a frame according to afirst wireless protocol or a second wireless protocol according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a dual-mode mesh-AP node with a dualmesh-AP radio according to one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a network hardware device according to oneembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Technologies directed to allow a wireless network device with a singlewireless local area network (WLAN) radio to act as a mesh station (Meshstation (STA)) and also an access point (AP) are described.Conventionally, separate radios are needed for a wireless network deviceto act as both an AP and a Mesh STA. For example, a radio of a wirelessnetwork device is usually put into one of three separate modes: MeshStation mode, Station mode, or AP mode. The Mesh Basis Service Set(MBSS) protocols are quite different from the standard AP BSS protocolin terms of how links are formed between two wireless network devicesand the related data traffic exchange. In a mesh network, a conventionalmesh network device (also referred to as mesh node or mesh STA) on anedge of a wireless mesh network contains at least two radios, where onededicated radio is put into the AP mode (referred to as the AP radio),allowing wireless client devices to connect to this radio of the meshnetwork device as the AP and at least one dedicated radio (referred toas the Mesh STA radio) to connect the mesh network device with one ormore additional mesh network devices that are part of the wireless meshnetwork. In this case, the wireless client devices cannot directlyconnect to the Mesh STA radio and the other mesh network devices cannotdirectly connect to the AP radio. Therefore, these conventional meshnetwork devices need a minimum of two radios to allow backhaulcommunications in the wireless mesh network and access communicationswith wireless client devices in the access network.

Aspects of the present disclosure address the above and otherdeficiencies by providing an access network and AP functionality on asame radio used for the wireless mesh network and Mesh STA functionalityin the mesh network that provides wireless backhaul. In other words, themesh network device can use a single radio to provide simultaneous modesof operations: Mesh STA and AP mode or dual-mode operations. The meshnetwork device can use a single radio to provide collocated mesh and APoperations. In particular, the mesh network device can use the singleradio to communicate with other mesh network devices that are part ofthe wireless mesh network using a first wireless protocol (e.g., MBSSprotocol) and communicate with wireless client devices in an accessnetwork using a second wireless protocol (e.g., AP BSS protocol). Theaspects of the present disclosure can reduce cost by using a singleradio that provides simultaneous mesh and AP operation modes. The sameradio can be used as a Mesh STA radio and as a regular AP radio tosupport wireless client devices connected to the radio. The single radiocan be used to permit a wireless network device to act as an AP deviceand a mesh point device (edge node, relay node, or the like). The singleradio can be used as access network to service WLAN devices (e.g.,Wi-Fi® compatible devices) and act as a wireless bridge connecting tothe wireless backhaul.

FIG. 1 is a network diagram of a wireless network having multiplewireless network devices 102-108 each configured to operate as a meshstation in a wireless mesh network 101 and multiple wireless networkdevices 106, 110 each configured to operate as a Mesh-AP station in boththe wireless mesh network and an access network 103, 105 according toone embodiment. The wireless mesh network 101 includes a wirelessnetwork device 102 (labeled Mesh STA1) that communicates data withInternet infrastructure 107. The Internet infrastructure 107 may includeone or more gateways, one or more cable or DSL modems, cellularstations, or the like. The wireless network device 102 is part of thewireless mesh network 101 and communicates data with other wirelessnetwork devices that are part of the wireless mesh network 101. Forexample, the wireless network device 102 communicates with the wirelessnetwork device 104 (labeled Mesh STA2). Similarly, the wireless networkdevice 104 communicates with a wireless network device 108 (labeled MeshSTA3). The wireless network device 104 can also communicate data with awireless network device 106 (labeled Mesh-AP STA1) that is considered anendpoint station that is part of the wireless mesh network 101.Similarly, the wireless network device 108 communicates with a wirelessnetwork device 110 (labeled Mesh-AP STA2) that is also considered anendpoint station that is part of the wireless mesh network 101. Thewireless network device 106 is considered a dual-mode station thatconcurrently operates as both a mesh station and an AP station in aspecified mode. In the specified mode, the wireless network device 106can be configured to use a single radio to communicate data with thewireless network device 104 (or other wireless network devices) that ispart of the wireless mesh network 101 using a mesh protocol (e.g., afirst type of wireless protocol used for mesh communications) andcommunicate data with one or more wireless client devices 112 in a firstaccess network 103 using a AP protocol (e.g., a second type of wirelessprotocol used for AP communications). Similarly, the wireless networkdevice 110 can be configured to use a single radio to communicate datawith the wireless network device 108 (or other wireless network devices)that is part of the wireless mesh network 101 using the mesh protocoland communicate data with one or more wireless client devices 114 in asecond access network 105 using the AP protocol. The first accessnetwork 103 is a wireless computer network that allows one or morewireless devices to connect to the wireless network device 110 andprovide access to remote servers, such as data, resources, or servicesprovided by other devices in the mesh or other devices beyond the meshnetwork in the Internet infrastructure 107. The wireless devices thatconnect to the wireless network device 110 in the first access network103 are referred to as wireless client devices, end-point devices,client-consumption devices, audio-video devices, sink devices, orwireless stations. Wireless stations in the first access network 103 caninclude wireless network interface controllers that allows the devicesto connect to other wireless devices, such as access points (e.g.,wireless routers) that can operates as base stations for the accessnetwork. Wireless stations can be mobile devices, computers, TVs, TVdongles, set-top boxes, and various other electronic devices with awireless network interface. In contrast, the wireless mesh network 101is a wireless computer network that allows two or more wireless devicesto connect to one another for backhaul communicates. In essence, thewireless client devices, as described herein, are not access points ormesh stations. In one embodiment, the first access network 103 is awireless local area network (WLAN). Alternatively, other access networkscan be provided by the wireless network device 110. The second accessnetwork 105 can be similar or dissimilar to the first access network103.

The wireless network device 106 and the wireless network device 110 areconfigured to have both Mesh and AP functionality. In some embodiments,the wireless network device 106 and the wireless network device 100include a single radio for both Mesh and AP functionality. In otherembodiments, the wireless network device 106 and the wireless networkdevice 110 are multi-radio mesh nodes, where each device can havemultiple radios that communicate with multiple devices that are part ofthe wireless mesh network 101. One of these multiple radios can beselected to operate as the single radio for both Mesh and APfunctionality (also referred to as simultaneous mesh and AP mode). Forexample, the mesh radio that has the least network load can be selectedas a candidate radio for simultaneous mesh and AP mode. This selectedradio performs simultaneous Mesh and AP modes of operation. That is theselected radio can receive and process mesh frames and AP framesaccordingly. The wireless network device 106 and wireless network device110 can operate as part of the wireless mesh network 101, as well asprovide access network, AP functionality on the same radio service asthe mesh STA. The wireless network device 106 and wireless networkdevice 110 can determine whether the frames are directed to meshoperations or directed to AP operations of the device and can processthe frame accordingly. Additional details on frame processing aredescribed below with respect to FIG. 2.

In one embodiment, the wireless network device 106 is an electronicdevice that includes a radio and a processor coupled to the radio. Theprocessor includes first processing logic (also referred to as meshprocessing logic or a mesh protocol stack) and second processing logic(also referred to as AP processing logic or an AP protocol stack. Theprocessor sends, via the radio in a first mode of the electronic device,first data that identifies the electronic device as a mesh station thatis part of the wireless mesh network 101. The processor sends, via theradio in a second mode of the electronic device, second data thatidentifies the electronic device as concurrently being the mesh stationthat is part of the wireless mesh network and an AP in the first accessnetwork 103. For example, the wireless network device 106 can send asingle beacon or multiple beacons to identify the dual-mode capability.For example, the single beacon can include the mesh identifier for thewireless mesh network 101 and a SSID for the first access network 103(e.g., Mesh-AP beacon—mesh-id: d-mesh, ssid: d-access). Alternatively,the mesh identifier can be broadcast in a first beacon frame (meshbeacon) and the SSID can be broadcast in a second beacon frame (APbeacon) via the same radio. Other devices can use the beacon(s) toconnect to the wireless network device 106 as a mesh station while otherdevices can use the beacon(s) to connect to the wireless network device106 as an AP. The wireless network device 106 can receive frames fromthese different devices and need to differentiate between the frametypes and whether the frames are directed to the mesh station or the AP.For example, the processor receives a first frame via the radio anddetermines that the first frame is directed to the mesh station. Theprocessor process the first frame using the first processing logic(e.g., mesh protocol stack). The processor receives a second frame viathe radio and determines that the second frame is directed to the AP.The processor process the second frame using the second processing logic(e.g., AP protocol stack). The processor can process various types offrames, including data frames, control frames, and management frames forboth AP frames and mesh frames as described herein.

In a further embodiment, the processor sends the second data thatidentifies the wireless mesh network 101 in a first beacon and a secondbeacon. The first beacon can include i) a mesh identifier (mesh ID) thatidentifies the wireless network device as a mesh station as part of thewireless mesh network 101 and ii) a mesh configuration element. Thesecond beacon can include a SSID of the first access network 103. Inanother embodiment, the processor sends a single beacon for bothpurposes. In particular, the single beacon includes the mesh ID, themesh configuration element, and the SSID of the first access network103. Similarly, the wireless network device 110 can send a single beaconor two separate beacons to identify the wireless network device 110 as amesh station that is part of the wireless mesh network 101 and an AP forthe access network 105 to provide access to the wireless client devices114.

In some embodiment, the first processing logic includes control pathlogic (also referred to as mesh control processing logic) and data pathlogic (also referred to as mesh data processing logic). The processordetermines that the first frame is a data frame directed to the meshstation and processes the data frame using the data path logic. Theprocessor can also determine that the first frame is a control frame ora management frame directed to the mesh station and processes thecontrol or management frame using the control path logic. Similarly, thesecond processing logic includes control path logic (also referred to asAP control processing logic) and data path logic (also referred to as APdata processing logic). The processor determines that the second frameis a data frame directed to the AP and processes the data frame usingthe data path logic. The processor can also determine that the secondframe is a control frame or a management frame directed to the AP andprocesses the control or management frame using the control path logic.

In one embodiment, the processor determines that the first frame isdirected to the mesh station by determining that the first frame is amanagement frame and that the management frame includes a meshidentifier associated with the mesh station. Alternatively, theprocessor determines that the first frame is directed to the meshstation by determining that the first frame is a data frame and the dataframe includes control information that indicates that the data frame isdirected from a distribution system (e.g., FromDS subfield in a framecontrol field). The control information can indicate that the data frameoriginated from another mesh station that is part of the wireless meshnetwork. In another embodiment, the processor determines that the firstframe is directed to the mesh station by determining that the firstframe is a management frame and that the management frame is a meshmanagement frame. An example of a mesh management frame is a HybridWireless Mesh Protocol (HWMP) Mesh Path Selection frame. Alternatively,other mesh management frames can be detected to determine that the frameis directed to the mesh station.

In one embodiment, the processor determines that the second frame isdirected to the AP by determining that the second frame is a managementframe and that the management frame does not include a mesh identifier.Alternatively, the processor can determine that the second frame is adata frame and the data frame includes control information thatindicates that the data frame is directed to a distribution system(e.g., ToDS subfield of a control frame field). The control informationcan indicate that the data frame originated from a wireless clientdevice that is part of the access network.

In another embodiment, the processor receives a frame at the radio anddetermines a frame type of the frame. The frame can be a data frame, acontrol frame, or a management frame. The processor determines that theframe is a mesh frame type or that the frame includes a mesh identifierresponsive to the first frame being a control frame or a managementframe. The processor processes, using the first processing logic (e.g.,mesh protocol stack), the frame as being directed to the mesh stationwhen the frame is the mesh frame type, or the frame includes the meshidentifier. Alternatively, the processor processes, using the secondprocessing logic (e.g., AP protocol stack), the frame as being directedto the AP when the frame is not the mesh frame type or the frame doesnot include the mesh identifier. Alternatively, the processor canprocess the frame as being directed to the AP when other conditions aremet.

In another embodiment, the wireless network device 106 can providetraffic bridging. In particular, the radio operating as a simultaneousMesh and AP mode can create two virtual network interfaces, including aWLAN-mesh interface (e.g., wifi-mesh interface) for the mesh data pathand a WLAN-access interface (wifi-access interface) for the AP datapath. The processor creates a first virtual network interface for thefirst processing logic (e.g., specifically the mesh data path logic anda second virtual network interface for the second processing logic(e.g., specifically the AP data path logic). A data frame received froman associated WLAN device (e.g., wireless client device 112) that needsrouting to the Internet via the Internet infrastructure 107 is deliveredto WLAN-mesh interface. A data frame can be received from the WLANdevice (e.g., device 112) that is addressed to a remote server. Theremote server can be any of the devices in the wireless mesh network, aswell as devices beyond the mesh network, such as a CDN server (e.g.,edge server), a gateway, a modem, an Internet infrastructure device, orthe like. The data frames can be audio and video content or webservices. The data frames can be data from web services, web resources,or the like. The data frame can be address to any device that is notpart of the access network. Similarly, a data frame received over thewireless mesh network 101 and not addressed to the radio of thereceiving wireless network device is delivered to WLAN-access interface.This provides mirror traffic from one virtual interface to the other.Upon receiving a data frame, for which there is no destinationassociated to the AP, the AP data path can drop the frame. In oneembodiment, the processor determines that the first frame is notaddressed to the wireless network device 106 and sends the first frameto the second virtual network interface. The processor can determinethat the second frame needs routing to the Internet and can send thesecond frame to the first virtual network interface. Additional detailsregarding frame processing by the wireless network device in the Mesh-APmode are described below with respect to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a dual-mode frame processing logic 220 of awireless network device 200 operating as both a mesh station and an APaccording to one embodiment. The dual-mode frame processing logic 220can comprises hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmablelogic, microcode, etc.), software, firmware, or a combination thereof.The wireless network device 200 also includes mesh control path logic208, AP control path logic 210, mesh data path logic 214, and AP datapath logic 216. These can also be implemented as hardware (e.g.,circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, microcode, etc.),software, firmware, or a combination thereof. In the depictedembodiment, the processing logic of FIG. 2 is implemented as softwarelogic components. In other embodiments, the processing logic of FIG. 2can be implemented as a single software component or multiple softwarecomponents.

The dual-mode frame processing logic 220 receives a frame (block 202).The dual-mode frame processing logic 220 determines a frame type of theframe (block 204). When the dual-mode frame processing logic 220determines that the frame is a data frame at block 204, the dual-modeframe processing logic 220 determines whether the data frame is directedto the mesh station or the AP (block 212). In the depicted embodiment,the dual-mode frame processing logic 220 determines the contents ofsubfields of a control frame field of the frame, including the FromDSsubfield and the ToDS subfield. When the dual-mode frame processinglogic 220 determines that the frame is directed to the mesh station atblock 212, the dual-mode frame processing logic 220 sends the frame tothe mesh data path logic 214 and the mesh data path logic 214 processesthe data frame. When the dual-mode frame processing logic 220 determinesthat the frame is directed to the AP at block 212, the dual-mode frameprocessing logic 220 sends the frame to the AP data path logic 216 andthe AP data path logic 216 processes the data frame.

In one embodiment, dual-mode frame processing logic 220 at block 212determines that the data frame includes a first bit that is not set in afirst subfield (FromDS subfield) of a frame control field and a secondbit that is set in a second subfield (ToDS subfield) of the framecontrol field. The first bit not being set and the second bit being setindicate that the data frame is directed to the AP and the dual-modeframe processing logic 220 sends the data frame to the AP data pathlogic 216 and the AP data path logic 216 processes the data frame. Inanother embodiment, dual-mode frame processing logic 220 at block 212determines that the data frame includes a first bit that is set in afirst subfield (FromDS subfield) of a frame control field and a secondbit that is either set or not set in a second subfield (ToDS subfield)of the frame control field. The first second bit being set indicatesthat the data frame is directed to the mesh station and the dual-modeframe processing logic 220 sends the data frame to the mesh data pathlogic 214 and the mesh data path logic 214 processes the data frame.

In another embodiment, the dual-mode frame processing logic 220determines at block 204 that the frame is a control frame or amanagement frame. When the dual-mode frame processing logic 220determines that the frame is a control or management frame at block 204,the dual-mode frame processing logic 220 determines whether the controlor management frame is directed to the mesh station or the AP (block206). In the depicted embodiment, the dual-mode frame processing logic220 determines whether the control or management frame is a mesh frameor includes a mesh identifier (mesh ID) (block 206). When the dual-modeframe processing logic 220 determines that the control or managementframe is a mesh frame or includes the mesh identifier at block 206, thedual-mode frame processing logic 220 sends the control or managementframe to the mesh control path logic 208 and the mesh control path logic208 processes the control or management frame. When the dual-mode frameprocessing logic 220 determines that the control or management frame isnot a mesh frame and does not include the mesh identifier at block 206,the dual-mode frame processing logic 220 sends the control or managementframe to the AP control path logic 210 and the AP control path logic 210processes the control or management frame.

As described herein, some control path changes includes how beacons aresent via the radio. When the device radio is configured into thesimultaneous Mesh and AP mode, the radio can send two beacons, onebeacon (Mesh beacon) for the mesh station containing the Mesh ID andmesh configuration element and another beacon (AP beacon) for the AP forthe access network, the other beacon containing the AP's SSID and othercapabilities. In some embodiments, to save beacon overhead, a singlebeacon can be transmitted containing both SSID and Mesh ID elements thatcan indicate the simultaneous Mesh and AP capabilities of the wirelessnetwork device 200. The sending of beacons in this manner is not astandard mode of operation. When the wireless network device 200receives a beacon, the mesh station logic of the wireless network device200 can ignore infrastructure AP elements in the AP beacon and in othermanagement frames. Similarly, the AP logic of the wireless networkdevice 200 can ignore mesh elements contained in the mesh beacon and inother management frames. It should be noted that wireless networkdevices that are part of the wireless mesh network 101, such as wirelessnetwork device 104 (Mesh STA2) only processes mesh elements contained inthe mesh beacon and ignores the infrastructure AP elements in the APbeacon since the wireless network device 104 is not configured as amesh-AP station like wireless network device 106. An AP and non-meshstations, such as wireless client devices 112, 114, only process APelements in the AP beacon and ignore mesh elements contained in the meshbeacon. This can avoid any potential issue due to collocatedcapabilities on the same radio. In particular, current IEEE 802.11wireless standards can prohibit collocated mesh and AP operations. Byusing the dual-mode frame processing logic 220 the wireless networkdevices can perform collocated mesh and AP operations.

In one embodiment, the management frames used for network scans areprocessed by the mesh control path logic 208 if the management framescarry Mesh ID element (as per required under the current wirelessspecifications). These management frames are ignored by the AP controlpath logic 210 in the same radio. This allows the mesh control pathlogic 208 to process and reply only to the management frames originatedfrom the mesh nodes that are part of the wireless mesh network 101, andignore all other management frames originated by non-mesh, traditionalWLAN devices, seeking connection to the AP. For management frames, whereMesh ID element is optional as specified the current IEEE 802.11sstandard, the embodiments described herein insert or otherwise add aMesh ID element to allow identification of management frames for themesh control path logic 208 from management frames for the AP controlpath logic 210. This disambiguates the processing of the receivedmanagement frames. A Mesh STA that is part of the wireless mesh network101 can insert Mesh ID element into frame whenever applicable, such asframes used for De-Authentication, Probe Request, Probe Response, andBeacon. Mesh specific management frames may not have Mesh ID. Forexample, the Mesh HWMP frames do not need to carry Mesh ID as they areignored by the AP control path logic 210. Similarly, wireless clientdevices 112, 114, sending frames for Authentication, Association,Disassociation, and Probe Request/Response Actions are processed by theAP control path logic 210. These frames do not carry Mesh ID element.That is, some mesh management frames are not required to carry a mesh IDelement. It should be noted that the mesh nodes can be under control ofa centralized controller that can configured the mesh nodes to includeMesh ID where needed, whereas the wireless client devices 112, 114connecting to the AP may not necessarily be controlled by thecentralized controller. Adding Mesh ID on the frames originated by themesh stations allow the disambiguation between management frames. TheMesh ID element, when inserted into Mesh Management frames that are notrequired to carry Mesh ID element, allows Mesh and AP mode receivers ofsuch frames to unambiguously process this either in their MeshManagement or AP management path. For example, Deauthentication frameconventionally does not have Mesh ID, therefore a Mesh and AP modereceiver may not know whether to process the Deauthentication frame inthe context of Mesh Management Path or Access Point Management Pathwithout the Mesh ID being inserted. The Mesh ID can also allow suchdistinctions in addition to the source MAC address.

As described herein, some data path changes include how data frames areprocessed. When a mesh radio that is configured as a both mesh and APmode, receives a data frame over the air, the dual-mode frame processinglogic 220 can use certain rules to make sure which one of mesh data pathlogic 214 or the AP data path logic 216 processes the data frame. Table1 shows one example of rules for classifying the data frame based onframe type/subtype and frame control (FC) field, including “FromDS” and“ToDS” subfields. These classifications allow a data frame to be handedover to either the mesh data path logic 214 or the AP data path logic216 running in the same radio. That is Mesh datapath code and APdatapath code run in the same radio and the dual-mode frame processinglogic 220 can determine which code should handle processing the receivedframe.

TABLE 1 Processing Data Frames ‘FromDS’ subfield/ Mesh AP Data ‘ToDS’subfield Datapath Path 00 X X 01 X 10 X (if broadcast, multicast) 11 X

FIGS. 3A-3B are examples of a first beacon frame 300 with a SSID 302 ofthe access network and a second beacon frame 350 with a mesh identifier352 transmitted by the wireless network device in a mesh-AP mode,according to one embodiment. Referring to FIG. 3A, the first beaconframe 300 can include a SSID 302 in a SSID field. The first beacon frame300 can also include other fields, such as a frame control (FC) field304, a duration field 306, address fields such as destination address308 and source address 310, sequential control filed 312, a frame body314, and a frame check sequence field 316. These fields are exemplaryfields of the first beacon frame 300, but other fields may be used. Ingeneral, the first beacon frame 300 can include a MAC header, a MACpayload, and a frame check (also referred to as MAC footer). Asdescribed above with respect to FIG. 2, the first beacon frame 300 canbe received and the processing logic can determine that the first beaconframe 300 is directed to the AP using the SSID 302. In otherembodiments, the MAC payload can have additional information about theAP that can be used to determine that the first beacon frame 300 isdirected to the AP. The mesh station can ignore the first beacon frame300.

Referring to FIG. 3B, the second beacon frame 350 can include a mesh ID352 in a beacon payload 364. The second beacon frame 350 can alsoinclude other fields, such as a frame control (FC) field 354, a sequencenumber (SN) field 356, address fields 358, and the frame check sequencefield 366. These fields are exemplary fields of the second beacon frame350, but other fields may be used. In general, the second beacon frame350 can include a MAC header, a MAC payload, and a frame check (alsoreferred to as MAC footer). As described above with respect to FIG. 2,the second beacon frame 350 can be received and the processing logic candetermine that the second beacon frame 350 is directed to the meshstation using the mesh ID 352. In other embodiments, the MAC payload canhave additional information about the mesh that can be used to determinethat the second beacon frame 350 is directed to the mesh station. The APcan ignore the second beacon frame 350.

FIG. 4A is an example of an AP frame with a frame control fieldaccording to one embodiment. The AP frame 400 can include a SSID 402 ina SSID field. The AP frame 400 can also include other fields, such as aframe control (FC) field 404, a duration field 406, address fields suchas destination address 408 and source address 410, sequential controlfiled 412, a frame body 414, and a frame check sequence field 416. Thesefields are exemplary fields of the AP frame 400, but other fields may beused. In general, the AP frame 400 can include a MAC header, a MACpayload, and a frame check (also referred to as MAC footer). The framecontrol field 404 can include multiple subfields, including a FromDistribution System (FromDS) subfield and To Distribution System (ToDS)subfield 418. As described above with respect to FIG. 2, the AP frame400 can be received and the processing logic can determine that the APframe 400 is directed to the AP using information in the frame controlfield 404. For example, the processing logic can determine that the APframe 400 is a data frame and can use the FromDS and ToDS subfields todetermine that the AP frame 400 is directed to the AP. As noted herein,the FromDS and ToDS subfields 418 can be used to indicate whether the APframe 400 is directed to the AP. For example, when the FromDS subfieldis not set and the second bit is set, the frame can be determined to bedirected to the AP. In other embodiments, the MAC payload can haveadditional information about the AP that can be used to determine thatthe AP frame 400 is directed to the AP. The mesh station can ignore theAP frame 400.

In other embodiments, the AP frame 400 can be a control frame or amanagement frame and other information in the AP frame 400 can be usedto determine the type of the AP frame and that AP frame 400 is directedto the AP and not the mesh station.

FIG. 4B is an example of a mesh frame with a frame control fieldaccording to one embodiment. The mesh frame 450 can include a mesh ID452 in a beacon payload 464. The mesh frame 450 can also include otherfields, such as a frame control (FC) field 454, a sequence number (SN)field 456, address fields 458, and the frame check sequence field 466.These fields are exemplary fields of the mesh frame 450, but otherfields may be used. In general, the mesh frame 450 can include a MACheader, a MAC payload, and a frame check (also referred to as MACfooter). The frame control field 454 can include multiple subfields,including a From Distribution System (FromDS) subfield and ToDistribution System (ToDS) subfield 458. As described above with respectto FIG. 2, the mesh frame 450 can be received and the processing logiccan determine that the mesh frame 450 is directed to the mesh stationusing information in the frame control field 404. For example, theprocessing logic can determine that the mesh frame 450 is a data frameand can use the FromDS and ToDS subfields 458 to determine that the meshframe 450 is directed to the mesh station. As noted herein, the FromDSand ToDS subfields can be used to indicate whether the mesh frame 450 isdirected to the mesh station. For example, when the FromDS subfield isset and the second bit is either set or not set, the frame can bedetermined to be directed to the mesh station. In other embodiments, theMAC payload can have additional information about the mesh station thatcan be used to determine that the mesh frame 450 is directed to the meshstation. The AP can ignore the mesh frame 450.

In other embodiments, the mesh frame 450 can be a control frame or amanagement frame and other information in the mesh frame 450 can be usedto determine the type of the mesh frame 450 and that the mesh frame 450is directed to the mesh station and not the AP.

FIG. 5 a flow diagram of a method 500 of processing a frame according toa first wireless protocol or a second wireless protocol according to oneembodiment. The method 500 may be performed by processing logic thatcomprises hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmablelogic, microcode, etc.), software, firmware, or a combination thereof.In one embodiment, the wireless network device 106 or 110 of FIG. 1performs the method 500. In another embodiment, the wireless networkdevice 200 of FIG. 2 performs the method 500. Alternatively, anapplication processor of any of the wireless network devices describedherein with respect to FIGS. 1-4 can perform the method 500.Alternatively, a processing device or a processor of an electronicdevice can perform the method 500.

Referring to FIG. 5, the method 500 begins by the processing logicsending, via a radio of an electronic device in a first mode, first datathat identifies the electronic device as a mesh station in a wirelessmesh network (block 502). The processing logic can receive controlinformation that causes the electronic device to change from the firstmode to a second mode, such as the mesh-AP mode described herein. In themesh-AP mode, the electronic device operates as both the mesh stationthat is part of the wireless mesh network and an AP of an accessnetwork. The processing logic determines whether the electronic deviceshould be in the Mesh-AP mode at block 504. When the electronic deviceis a mesh station only, the processing logic returns to block 502 andcan continue to send the first data that identifies the electronicdevice as a mesh station that is part of the wireless mesh network. Whenthe electronic device is a mesh-AP mode at block 504, the processinglogic sends, via the radio of the electronic device, second data thatidentifies the electronic device as concurrently being the mesh stationthat is part of the wireless mesh network and an access point (AP) in anaccess network (block 506). At block 508, the processing logicdetermines whether a frame is received at the radio. When no frame isreceived, the processing logic returns to block 506. When a first frameis received from a second device at block 508, the processing logicdetermines whether the first frame is a mesh frame directed to the meshstation (block 510). When the first frame is a mesh frame, theprocessing logic processes the first frame according to a first wirelessprotocol (e.g., MBSS protocol) (block 512), and returns to block 508.When the first frame is not a mesh frame, the processing logic processesthe first frame according to a second wireless protocol (e.g., standardAP BSS protocol) (block 514), and returns to block 508.

In one embodiment, the processing logic at block 506 sends a firstbeacon with a mesh identifier of the mesh station that is part of thewireless mesh network and a mesh configuration element and separatelysends a second beacon with a SSID of the access network. In anotherembodiment, the processing logic at block 506 sends a single beacon witha mesh identifier of the mesh station that is part of the wireless meshnetwork, a mesh configuration element, and a SSID of the access network.

In another embodiment, at block 510, the processing logic determines aframe type. The frame types can data frames, control frames, ormanagement frames. The processing logic can determine whether the frameis a mesh type or has a mesh identifier responsive to the frame being acontrol frame or a management frame. The processing logic can determinewhether the frame includes control information that indicates that thesecond frame is directed to a distribution system or directed from adistribution system in connection with determining that the frame is adata frame type.

In another embodiment, the processing logic creates a first virtualnetwork interface and a second virtual network interface. The processinglogic can determine whether the frame is addressed to the electronicdevice and can send the frame to the second virtual network interfaceresponsive to the frame not being addressed to the electronic device.The processing logic can determine that the frame needs routing to theInternet and can send the frame to the first virtual network interfaceresponsive to the frame needing to be routed to the Internet.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a dual-mode mesh-AP node 600 with a dualmesh-AP radio 615 according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, thedual-mode mesh-AP node 600 is a wireless network device that includes asingle WLAN radio 614 and an application processor 620 coupled to thesingle WLAN radio 614. The application processor 620 can includedual-mode frame processing logic 622, AP processing logic 624, and meshprocessing logic 626. The AP processing logic 624 can include separatepath logic for data and control paths. For example, the AP processinglogic 624 can include AP data path logic and AP control path logic.Similarly, the mesh processing logic 626 can include mesh data pathlogic and mesh control path logic. The dual-mode frame processing logic622 broadcasts, in a first mode via the WLAN radio 614, a first beacon.The first beacon includes a mesh identifier of the dual-mode mesh-APnode 600 in a wireless mesh network. The first beacon can also include amesh configuration element. The dual-mode mesh-AP node 600 operates as amesh station in the first mode. The dual-mode mesh-AP node 600 canreceive control information that causes the dual-mode mesh-AP node 600to change from the first mode to a second mode. The dual-mode mesh-APnode 600 operates as both the mesh station that is part of the wirelessmesh network and an AP of an access network in the second mode. Thedual-mode frame processing logic 622 broadcasts, via the WLAN radio 614in the second mode, the first beacon, and a second beacon. The secondbeacon includes a SSID of the access network to provide AP functionalityto the mesh station for wireless client devices in the access network.

In the second mode, the dual-mode frame processing logic 622 receives,via the single WLAN radio 614, a first frame from a second wirelessnetwork device. The dual-mode frame processing logic 622 determines thatthe first frame is a first management frame and determines that thefirst management frame includes the mesh ID. The dual-mode frameprocessing logic 622 sends the first management frame to the meshprocessing logic 626 (e.g., mesh control path logic) and the meshprocessing logic 626 processes the first management frame. The dual-modeframe processing logic 622 receives, via the single WLAN radio 614, asecond frame from a wireless client device. The dual-mode frameprocessing logic 622 determines that the second frame is a secondmanagement frame and determines that the second management frame doesnot include a mesh identifier and is not a mesh frame. The dual-modeframe processing logic 622 sends the second management frame to the APprocessing logic 624 (e.g., AP control path logic) and the AP processinglogic 624 processes the second management frame.

In a further embodiment, the dual-mode frame processing logic 622, inthe second mode, receives, via the single WLAN radio 614, a third framethe wireless client device. The dual-mode frame processing logic 622,determines that the third frame is a first data frame and determinesthat the first data frame includes frame control information thatindicates that the first data frame is directed to the AP. For example,the dual-mode frame processing logic 622 can determine that a first bitthat is not set in a first subfield of a frame control field and asecond bit that is set in a second subfield of the frame control field.The first bit not being set and the second bit being set indicate thatthe third frame is directed to the AP. The dual-mode frame processinglogic 622 sends the third data frame to the AP data path logic and theAP data path logic processes the first data frame.

In another embodiment, the dual-mode frame processing logic 622, in thesecond mode, receives a fourth frame via the single WLAN radio 614. Thedual-mode frame processing logic 622 determines that the fourth frame isa second data frame and determines that the second data frame includesframe control information that indicates that the second data frame isdirected to the mesh station. For example, the dual-mode frameprocessing logic 622 determines that a first bit that is set in a firstsubfield of a frame control field to indicate that the second data frameis directed to the mesh station. It should be noted that a second bitcan either be set or not set in a second subfield of the frame controlfield.

In the embodiment above, the dual-mode mesh-AP node 600 includes asingle WLAN radio 614. The single WLAN radio 614 creates a peer-to-peer(P2P) wireless connection 609 between the dual-mode mesh-AP node 600 andanother mesh node (not illustrated) that is part of the wireless meshnetwork. The single WLAN radio 614 also creates a node-to-client (N2C)wireless connection 615 between the dual-mode mesh-AP node 600 and aclient consumption device (not illustrated) in the access network. Inother embodiments, the dual-mode mesh-AP node 600 includes additionalradios, but these radios are used for other wireless connections, notthe connections used for the mesh station and AP mode of the single WLANradio 614. For example, the dual-mode mesh-AP node 600 can include afirst 5 GHz radio 602, a second 5 GHz radio 604, a third 5 GHz radio606, a fourth 5 GHz radio 608, a 2.4 GHz radio 610, and a cellular radio612. The first 5 GHz radio 602 creates a first P2P wireless connection603 between the dual-mode mesh-AP node 600 and another mesh node (notillustrated) in a mesh network. The second 5 GHz radio 604 creates asecond P2P wireless connection 605 between the dual-mode mesh-AP node600 and another mesh node (not illustrated) in the mesh network. Thethird 5 GHz radio 606 creates a third P2P wireless connection 607between the dual-mode mesh-AP node 600 and another mesh node (notillustrated) in the mesh network. The fourth 5 GHz radio 608 creates afourth P2P wireless connection 609 between the dual-mode mesh-AP node600 and another mesh node (not illustrated) in the mesh network. The 2.4GHz radio 610 creates a N2C wireless connection 611 between thedual-mode mesh-AP node 600 and a client consumption device (notillustrated) in the mesh network. The N2C wireless connection may be oneof a second set of one or more WLAN connections that operate at a secondfrequency of approximately 2.4 GHz. The cellular radio 612 creates acellular connection between the dual-mode mesh-AP node 600 and a devicein a cellular network (not illustrated). In other embodiments, more thanone 2.4 GHz radios may be used for more N2C wireless connections.Alternatively, different number of 5 GHz radios may be used for more orless P2P wireless connections with other mesh nodes. In otherembodiments, multiple cellular radios may be used to create multiplecellular connections.

In some embodiments, the dual-mode mesh-AP node 600 may be any one ofthe mesh network device described herein. In one embodiment, thedual-mode mesh-AP node 600 may be an ingress node or amini-point-of-presence (POP) node that has attached storage and anetwork connection to access content outside of the mesh network.Multiple network hardware devices are wirelessly connected through anetwork backbone formed by multiple P2P wireless connections. These P2Pwireless connections are wireless connections between different pairs ofthe network hardware devices. The P2P wireless connections may be afirst set of WLAN connections that operate at a first frequency ofapproximately 5.0 GHz. The multiple network hardware devices may bewirelessly connected to one or more client consumption devices by one ormore N2C wireless connections. Also, the multiple network hardwaredevices may be wirelessly connected to a mesh network control services(MNCS) device by cellular connections. Each network hardware deviceincludes a cellular connection to a MNCS service hosted by a cloudcomputing system. The cellular connections may have lower bandwidthsthan the point-to-point wireless link.

During operation, the dual-mode mesh-AP node 600 may receive a firstrequest for a first content file from a first client consumption deviceover the N2C connection 615. The dual-mode mesh-AP node 600 sends asecond request for the first content file to a second network hardwaredevice through the network backbone via a first set of zero or moreintervening network hardware devices between the first network hardwaredevice and the second network hardware device. For example, thedual-mode mesh-AP node 600 can request the first content file via thesingle WLAN radio 614 over the P2P connection 609. The dual-mode mesh-APnode 600 receives the first content file through the network backbonevia the first set of zero or more intervening network hardware devicesand sends the first content file to the first client consumption deviceover the N2C connection 615. In a further embodiment, the dual-modemesh-AP node 600 includes the WAN radio 612 to wirelessly connect to aMNCS device by a cellular connection 613 to exchange controlinformation.

In some embodiments, a path between the dual-mode mesh-AP node 600 andan ingress node (or any other mesh network device) could include zero ormore hops of intervening network hardware devices. In some cases, thepath may include up to 12-15 hops within a mesh network of N×N networkhardware devices deployed in the mesh network.

In some embodiments, the dual-mode mesh-AP node 600 includes memory tostore content files, control and command data, as well as the aggregatedata described herein. The memory of the first network hardware devicemay be volatile memory, non-volatile memory, or a combination of both.When a content file is not stored in the memory or the storage of thedual-mode mesh-AP node 600, the dual-mode mesh-AP node 600 generates andsends a request to another node in the mesh network. Intervening networkhardware devices can make similar determinations to locate the contentfile in the mesh network. In the event that the first content file isnot stored in the mesh network, the content file can be requested fromthe mini-POP node. When the mini-POP node does not store the contentfile, the mini-POP can take action to obtain the first content file,such as requesting the first content file from a content deliverynetwork (CDN) over a point-to-point link. Alternatively, the human inthe loop process can be initiated as described herein.

In a further embodiment, the P2P wireless connections 603, 605, 607, 609are WLAN connections that operate in a first frequency range and the N2Cconnections 611 are WLAN connections that operate in a second frequencyrange. In another embodiment, the P2P wireless connections 603, 605,607, 609 operate at a first frequency of approximately 5.0 GHz and theN2C connections 611 operate at a second frequency of approximately 2.4GHz.

In general, a wireless mesh network (WMN), containing multiple meshnetwork devices organized in a mesh topology, is described. Theembodiments described herein can be used in connection with a meshnetwork that is used as a content delivery platform for content deliveryor Internet services. In some cases, the content delivery platform canbe deployed in environments with less Internet infrastructure orsufficient Internet infrastructure. One of the content deliveryplatforms can be based on wireless local area network (WLAN)technologies. WLAN connectivity operating in unlicensed spectrum offersa cost-effective and scalable solution for a wireless wide area network(WWAN) to be deployed over a large densely populated region. The networkhardware devices are also referred to herein as mesh routers, meshnetwork devices, mesh nodes, Meshboxes, or Meshbox nodes. Multiplenetwork hardware devices wirelessly are connected through a networkbackbone formed by multiple peer-to-peer (P2P) wireless connections(i.e., wireless connections between multiple pairs of the networkhardware devices). The multiple network devices are wirelessly connectedto one or more client consumption devices by N2C wireless connections.The multiple network devices are wirelessly connected to the MNCS deviceby cellular connections. The content file (or generally a content itemor object) may be any type of format of digital content, including, forexample, electronic texts (e.g., eBooks, electronic magazines, digitalnewspapers, etc.), digital audio (e.g., music, audible books, etc.),digital video (e.g., movies, television, short clips, etc.), images(e.g., art, photographs, etc.), or multi-media content. The clientconsumption devices may include any type of content rendering devicessuch as electronic book readers, portable digital assistants, mobilephones, laptop computers, portable media players, tablet computers,cameras, video cameras, netbooks, notebooks, desktop computers, gamingconsoles, DVD players, media centers, and the like.

The embodiments of the mesh network devices may be used to delivercontent, such as video, music, literature, or the like, to users who donot have access to broadband Internet connections because the meshnetwork devices may be deployed in an environment of limitedconnectivity to broadband Internet infrastructure. In some of theembodiments described herein, the mesh network architecture does notinclude “gateway” nodes that are capable of forwarding broadband meshtraffic to the Internet. The mesh network architecture may include alimited number of POP nodes that do have access to the Internet, but themajority of mesh network devices is capable of forwarding broadband meshtraffic between the mesh network devices for delivering content toclient consumption devices that would otherwise not have broadbandconnections to the Internet. Alternatively, instead of POP node havingaccess to broadband Internet infrastructure, the POP node is coupled tostorage devices that store the available content for the WMN. The WMNmay be self-contained in the sense that content lives in, travelsthrough, and is consumed by nodes in the mesh network. In someembodiments, the mesh network architecture includes a large number ofmesh nodes, called Meshbox nodes. The WMN can scale to support ageographic area based on the number of mesh network devices, and thecorresponding distances for successful communications over WLAN channelsby those mesh network devices.

Although various embodiments herein are directed to content delivery,such as for the Amazon Instant Video (AIV) service, the WMNs, andcorresponding mesh network devices, can be used as a platform suitablefor delivering high bandwidth content in any application where lowlatency is not critical or access patterns are predictable.Alternatively, the embodiments described herein can be utilized forproviding web services. The embodiments described herein are compatiblewith existing content delivery technologies, and may leveragearchitectural solutions, such as CDN services like the Amazon AWSCloudFront service. Amazon CloudFront CDN is a global CDN service thatintegrates with other Amazon Web services products to distribute contentto end users with low latency and high data transfer speeds. Theembodiments described herein can be an extension to this global CDN, butin environments where there is limited broadband Internetinfrastructure. The embodiments described herein may provide users inthese environments with a content delivery experience equivalent to whatthe users would receive on a traditional broadband Internet connection.The embodiments described herein may be used to optimize deployment fortraffic types (e.g. streaming video) that are increasingly becoming asignificant percentage of broadband traffic and taxing existinginfrastructure in a way that is not sustainable.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a network hardware device 700 according toone embodiment. The network hardware device 700 may correspond to thewireless network devices described above with respect to FIGS. 1-6.Alternatively, the network hardware device 700 may be other electronicdevices, as described herein.

The network hardware device 700 includes one or more processor(s) 730,such as one or more CPUs, microcontrollers, field programmable gatearrays, or other types of processors. The network hardware device 700also includes system memory 706, which may correspond to any combinationof volatile and/or non-volatile storage mechanisms. The system memory706 stores information that provides operating system component 708,various program modules 710, program data 712, and/or other components.In one embodiment, the system memory 706 stores instructions of methodsto control operation of the network hardware device 700. The networkhardware device 700 performs functions by using the processor(s) 730 toexecute instructions provided by the system memory 706. In oneembodiment, the program modules 710 may include dual-mode frameprocessing logic 711, AP processing logic 713, and mesh processing logic715. The dual-mode frame processing logic 711 may perform some of theoperations of the method 500 of FIG. 5. The AP processing logic 713 canprocess frames directed to the AP and the mesh processing logic 715 canprocess frames directed to the mesh station. Alternatively, thedual-mode frame processing logic 711, the AP processing logic 713, themesh processing logic 715 may be implemented in a single module ormultiple modules.

The network hardware device 700 also includes a data storage device 714that may be composed of one or more types of removable storage and/orone or more types of non-removable storage. The data storage device 714includes a computer-readable storage medium 716 on which is stored oneor more sets of instructions embodying any of the methodologies orfunctions described herein. Instructions for the program modules 710(e.g., 711, 713, 715) may reside, completely or at least partially,within the computer-readable storage medium 716, system memory 706and/or within the processor(s) 730 during execution thereof by thenetwork hardware device 700, the system memory 706 and the processor(s)730 also constituting computer-readable media. The network hardwaredevice 700 may also include one or more input devices 718 (keyboard,mouse device, specialized selection keys, etc.) and one or more outputdevices 720 (displays, printers, audio output mechanisms, etc.).

The network hardware device 700 further includes a modem 722 to allowthe network hardware device 700 to communicate via a wirelessconnections (e.g., such as provided by the wireless communicationsystem) with other computing devices, such as remote computers, an itemproviding system, and so forth. The modem 722 can be connected to one ormore radio frequency (RF) modules 786. The RF modules 786 may be a WLANmodule, a WAN module, PAN module, global positioning system (GPS)module, or the like. The antenna structures (antenna(s) 784, 785, 787)are coupled to the RF circuitry 783, which is coupled to the modem 722.The RF circuitry 783 may include radio front-end circuitry, antennaswitching circuitry, impedance matching circuitry, or the like. Theantennas 784 may be GPS antennas, near field communication (NFC)antennas, other WAN antennas, WLAN or PAN antennas, or the like. Themodem 722 allows the network hardware device 700 to handle both voiceand non-voice communications (such as communications for text messages,multimedia messages, media downloads, web browsing, etc.) with awireless communication system. The modem 722 may provide networkconnectivity using any type of mobile network technology including, forexample, cellular digital packet data (CDPD), general packet radioservice (GPRS), EDGE, universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS),1 times radio transmission technology (1×RTT), evaluation data optimized(EVDO), high-speed down-link packet access (HSDPA), Wi-Fi®, Long TermEvolution (LTE) and LTE Advanced (sometimes generally referred to as4G), etc.

The modem 722 may generate signals and send these signals to antenna(s)784 of a first type (e.g., WLAN 5 GHz), antenna(s) 785 of a second type(e.g., WLAN 2.4 GHz), and/or antenna(s) 787 of a third type (e.g., WAN),via RF circuitry 783, and RF module(s) 786 as descried herein. Antennas784, 785, 787 may be configured to transmit in different frequency bandsand/or using different wireless communication protocols. The antennas784, 785, 787 may be directional, omnidirectional, or non-directionalantennas. In addition to sending data, antennas 784, 785, 787 may alsoreceive data, which is sent to appropriate RF modules connected to theantennas. One of the antennas 784, 785, 787 may be any combination ofthe antenna structures described herein.

In one embodiment, the network hardware device 700 establishes a firstconnection using a first wireless communication protocol, and a secondconnection using a different wireless communication protocol. The firstwireless connection and second wireless connection may be activeconcurrently, for example, if a network hardware device is receiving amedia item from another network hardware device (e.g., a mini-POP node)via the first connection) and transferring a file to another user device(e.g., via the second connection) at the same time. Alternatively, thetwo connections may be active concurrently during wirelesscommunications with multiple devices. In one embodiment, the firstwireless connection is associated with a first resonant mode of anantenna structure that operates at a first frequency band and the secondwireless connection is associated with a second resonant mode of theantenna structure that operates at a second frequency band. In anotherembodiment, the first wireless connection is associated with a firstantenna structure and the second wireless connection is associated witha second antenna. In other embodiments, the first wireless connectionmay be associated with content distribution within mesh nodes of the WMNand the second wireless connection may be associated with serving acontent file to a client consumption device, as described herein.

Though a modem 722 is shown to control transmission and reception viaantenna (784, 785, 787), the network hardware device 700 mayalternatively include multiple modems, each of which is configured totransmit/receive data via a different antenna and/or wirelesstransmission protocol.

In the above description, numerous details are set forth. It will beapparent, however, to one of ordinary skill in the art having thebenefit of this disclosure, that embodiments may be practiced withoutthese specific details. In some instances, well-known structures anddevices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in orderto avoid obscuring the description.

Some portions of the detailed description are presented in terms ofalgorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bitswithin a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are the means used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their workto others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally,conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desiredresult. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physicalquantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take theform of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored,transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It hasproven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, torefer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters,terms, numbers, or the like.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise as apparent from the above discussion, itis appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizingterms such as “inducing,” “parasitically inducing,” “radiating,”“detecting,” determining,” “generating,” “communicating,” “receiving,”“disabling,” or the like, refer to the actions and processes of acomputer system, or similar electronic computing device, thatmanipulates and transforms data represented as physical (e.g.,electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers andmemories into other data similarly represented as physical quantitieswithin the computer system memories or registers or other suchinformation storage, transmission or display devices.

Embodiments also relate to an apparatus for performing the operationsherein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the requiredpurposes, or it may comprise a general-purpose computer selectivelyactivated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer.Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storagemedium, such as, but not limited to, any type of disk including floppydisks, optical disks, CD-ROMs and magnetic-optical disks, read-onlymemories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs,magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storingelectronic instructions.

The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently relatedto any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purposesystems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachingsherein, or it may prove convenient to construct a more specializedapparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structurefor a variety of these systems will appear from the description below.In addition, the present embodiments are not described with reference toany particular programming language. It will be appreciated that avariety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachingsof the present embodiments as described herein. It should also be notedthat the terms “when” or the phrase “in response to,” as used herein,should be understood to indicate that there may be intervening time,intervening events, or both before the identified operation isperformed.

It is to be understood that the above description is intended to beillustrative, and not restrictive. Many other embodiments will beapparent to those of skill in the art upon reading and understanding theabove description. The scope of the present embodiments should,therefore, be determined with reference to the appended claims, alongwith the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wireless network device comprising: a singlewireless local area network (WLAN) radio; and an application processorcoupled to the single WLAN radio, wherein the application processorcomprises dual-mode frame processing logic, access point (AP) data pathlogic, AP control path logic, mesh data path logic, and mesh controlpath logic, wherein the dual-mode frame processing logic: in a firstmode, broadcasts, via the single WLAN radio, a first beacon, wherein thefirst beacon comprises i) a mesh identifier (mesh ID) that identifiesthe wireless network device as a mesh station that is part of a wirelessmesh network and ii) a mesh configuration element, wherein the wirelessnetwork device operates as the mesh station in the first mode; receivescontrol information that causes the wireless network device to changefrom the first mode to a second mode, wherein the wireless networkdevice concurrently operates as both the mesh station that is part ofthe wireless mesh network and an AP of an access network in the secondmode; in the second mode, broadcasts, via the single WLAN radio, thefirst beacon and a second beacon, wherein the second beacon comprises aservice set identifier (SSID) of the access network; and in the secondmode, receives, via the single WLAN radio, a first management frame froma second wireless network device, determines that the first managementframe comprises the mesh ID, sends the first management frame to themesh control path logic, receives, via the single WLAN radio, a secondmanagement frame from a wireless client device, determine that thesecond management frame does not include a mesh ID, and sends the secondmanagement frame to the AP control path logic.
 2. The wireless networkdevice of claim 1, wherein the dual-mode frame processing logic further:in the second mode, receives, via the single WLAN radio, a third dataframe from the wireless client device, determines that the third dataframe comprises a first bit that is not set in a first subfield of aframe control field and a second bit that is set in a second subfield ofthe frame control field, wherein the first bit not being set and thesecond bit being set indicate that the first third data frame isdirected to the AP, and sends the third data frame to the AP data pathlogic.
 3. The wireless network device of claim 1, wherein the dual-modeframe processing logic further: in the second mode, receives a fourthdata frame via the single WLAN radio, determines that the fourth dataframe comprises a first bit that is set in a first subfield of a framecontrol field, wherein the first bit being set indicates that the fourthdata frame is directed to the mesh station; and sends the fourth dataframe to the mesh data path logic.
 4. An electronic device comprising: aradio; and a processor coupled to the radio, the processor comprising afirst processing logic and a second processing logic, wherein theelectronic device operates in a first mode and a second mode, andwherein the processor is to: send, in the first mode via the radio,first data that identifies the electronic device as a mesh station thatis part of a wireless mesh network; send, in the second mode via theradio, second data that identifies the electronic device as concurrentlybeing the mesh station that is part of the wireless mesh network and anaccess point (AP) that is part of an access network; receive, in thesecond mode, a first frame via the radio; process the first frame usingthe first processing logic; receive, in the second mode, a second framevia the radio; and process the second frame using the second processinglogic.
 5. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the second datacomprises a first beacon comprising a mesh identifier (mesh ID) of themesh station and wherein the second data further comprises a secondbeacon comprising a service set identifier (SSID) of the access network.6. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the second data comprises asingle beacon comprising a mesh identifier (mesh ID) of the mesh stationand a service set identifier (SSID) of the access network.
 7. Theelectronic device of claim 4, wherein the first processing logiccomprises mesh control path logic and mesh data path logic, wherein theprocessor is further to determine that the first frame is a data framedirected to the mesh station and send the data frame to the mesh datapath logic.
 8. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the firstprocessing logic comprises mesh control path logic and mesh data pathlogic, wherein the processor is further to determine that the firstframe is a management frame directed to the mesh station and send themanagement frame to the mesh control path logic.
 9. The electronicdevice of claim 4, wherein the second processing logic comprises APcontrol path logic and AP data path logic, wherein the processor isfurther to determine that the second frame is a data frame directed tothe AP and send the data frame to the AP data path logic.
 10. Theelectronic device of claim 4, wherein the second processing logiccomprises AP control path logic and AP data path logic, wherein theprocessor is further to determine that the second frame is a managementframe directed to the AP and send the management frame to the AP controlpath logic.
 11. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the processoris further to: determine a frame type of the first frame, wherein theframe type is at least one of a data frame, a control frame, or amanagement frame; determine that the first frame is the management frameand that the management frame comprises a mesh identifier associatedwith the mesh station; or determine that the first frame is data frameand the data frame comprises information that indicates that the dataframe originated from another mesh station that is part of the wirelessmesh network.
 12. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein theprocessor, to determine that the first frame is directed to the meshstation, is to: determine a frame type of the first frame, wherein theframe type is at least one of a data frame, a control frame, or amanagement frame; determine that the first frame is the management frameand that the management frame is a mesh-specific management frame; ordetermine that the first frame is data frame and the data framecomprises information that indicates that the data frame originated fromanother mesh station that is part of the wireless mesh network.
 13. Theelectronic device of claim 4, wherein the processor, to determine thatthe second frame is directed to the AP, is to: determine a frame type ofthe first frame, wherein the frame type is at least one of a data frame,a control frame, or a management frame; determine that the second frameis the management frame and that the management frame does not comprisea mesh identifier; or determine that the second frame is data frame andthe data frame comprises information that indicates that the data frameoriginated from a client that is part of the access network.
 14. Theelectronic device of claim 4, wherein the processor is further to:create a first virtual network interface for the first processing logicand a second virtual network interface, wherein the second virtualnetwork interface is coupled to the second processing logic; determinethat the first frame is not addressed to the electronic device; send thefirst frame to the second virtual network interface; determine that thesecond frame is addressed to a remote server; and send the second frameto the first virtual network interface.
 15. A method comprising:sending, via a radio of an electronic device in a first mode, first datathat identifies the electronic device as a mesh station that is part ofa wireless mesh network; sending, via the radio of the electronic devicein a second mode, second data that identifies the electronic device asconcurrently being the mesh station that is part of the wireless meshnetwork and an access point (AP) that is part of an access network;receiving, via the radio in the second mode, a first frame from a seconddevice; determining, by a processor of the electronic device, that thefirst frame is directed to the mesh station; processing, by a firstprotocol stack of the processor, the first frame; receiving, via theradio in the second mode, a second frame from a third device;determining, by the processor, that the second frame is directed to theAP; and processing, by a second protocol stack of the processor, thesecond frame.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the sending the seconddata comprises: sending a first beacon, wherein the first beaconcomprises a mesh identifier (mesh ID) of the mesh station that is partof the wireless mesh network; and sending a second beacon, wherein thesecond beacon comprises a service set identifier (SSID) of the accessnetwork.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: determining aframe type of the first frame, wherein the frame type is at least one ofa data frame, a control frame, or a management frame; determining thatthe first frame is at least one of a mesh frame type or comprises a meshidentifier; and determining that the second frame comprises informationthat indicates that the second frame originates from another meshstation that is part of the access network.
 18. The method of claim 16,further comprising: determining a frame type of the second frame,wherein the frame type is at least one of a data frame, a control frame,or a management frame; determining that the second frame does notcomprise a mesh identifier; and determining that the second framecomprises information that indicates that the second frame originatesfrom a wireless client device that is part of the access network. 19.The method of claim 16, further comprising: generating, by theprocessor, a mesh management frame; inserting, by the processor, a meshidentifier (mesh ID) element into the mesh management frame; andsending, by the processor via the radio, the mesh management frame to afourth device.
 20. The method of claim 15, wherein the sending thesecond data comprises sending a single beacon, wherein the single beaconcomprises a mesh identifier (mesh ID) of the mesh station and a serviceset identifier (SSID) of the access network.